National Alcohol & Drug Legal Services

About           the Project  |  How to Get Help  |  Publications  |  Accomplishments

NATIONAL ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROJECT
Fighting Discrimination Against People in Recovery and People with HIV

The Legal Action Center (LAC) is dedicated to helping people who face discrimination     based on their history of alcoholism, drug dependence or HIV/AIDS. Beginning     with a series of class action law suits and other successful litigation     in the 1970’s and 1980’s challenging discrimination in employment and government     benefits, LAC has won precedent-setting victories opening up tens of thousands     of jobs and many other opportunities across a wide range of areas of American     life for these important and deserving constituencies. For legal citations     and brief descriptions of cases brought by LAC, download the Legal Action     Center’s Leading Cases which can be found in the Free     Publications section of this web site. LAC’s advocacy ensured     that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing     Act explicitly outlaw discrimination against people in recovery from alcohol     and drug problems, including those in treatment.

Through the National Anti-Discrimination Project, LAC lawyers provide       legal advice and assistance to clients around the country, make available       back-up assistance to other lawyers fighting discrimination on behalf       of these groups, and fight any proposals in Congress that would strip       individuals in recovery and those with HIV/AIDS of hard-won civil rights.

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How to Get Help
If your legal problem is not in New York State:
Call the Legal Action Center at (212) 243-1313, Monday to Friday, from       1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T.), and ask to speak with the “attorney       on call.”

For those in New York State:
Visit the NY Alcohol and Drug Legal Services section of this web site.      You can also visit NY Criminal Justice Legal Services or NY HIV/AIDS Legal       Services.

THE CENTER WILL NOT RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE SENT TO THE LEGAL       ACTION CENTER’S E-MAIL ADDRESS OR WEBSITE.

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Free Publications & Other       Materials
To download these and other publications, visit the Free       Publications section of this web site:

  • The Legal Action Center’s Leading Cases: Describes the         rulings and provides legal citations of many of the landmark court decisions         won by the Legal Action Center.
  • The Americans With Disabilities Act: A Summary of Alcohol and Drug         and AIDS Provisions (1990) – Discusses how the ADA protects people         with histories of alcohol or drug problems or with HIV/AIDS.
  • The Americans With Disabilities Act: Discrimination in Public Services,        Title II (2002) – Highlights key provisions of the ADA’s Title         II, which prohibits discrimination in public services, and summarizes         major cases decided through February 2002.
  • Siting Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs: Legal Challenges to the         NIMBY Syndrome (DHHS 1995) – Examines legal remedies available         to alcohol and drug treatment providers who wish to avert or challenge         discriminatory zoning and siting decisions.
  • Methadone Maintenance Treatment: Memorandum on Driving & Psychomotor         Studies and Background Information about Methadone Treatment (April         2000) – Summarizes studies demonstrating that individuals maintained         on methadone can function normally and can drive.
  • Employment Discrimination and What to Do About It. (2002) –        Describes state and federal laws that protect clients with criminal         records and histories of alcohol and drug problems and HIV/AIDS from         being discriminated against by employers. (Available for CA, IL, NY,        PA and VA)

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Accomplishments

  • Won dozens of victories in court, over nearly three decades, establishing         the right of people in recovery or being treated for addiction or alcoholism,        and the agencies that serve them, to be free from discrimination in         employment, zoning, benefits, and other necessities of life. For legal         citations and brief descriptions of cases brought by LAC, download the         Legal Action Center’s Leading Cases which can be found in the         Free Publications section         of this web site.
  • Litigated Traynor v. Turnage to U.S. Supreme Court and convinced Congress         to overturn Veterans Administration rule classifying alcoholism as “willful         misconduct” instead of a disease.
  • Litigated Beazer v. NYC Transit Authority to U.S. Supreme Court and         other cases which established the right of people in methadone maintenance         treatment to be employed.
  • Helped invalidate Hawaii statute that provided less generous public         assistance benefits to individuals in recovery than those provided individuals         with other disabilities. Does v. Chandler.
  • Won first ever decision under the Americans with Disabilities Act         (ADA) prohibiting zoning discrimination against an addiction treatment         program that was prevented from opening a new facility by “NIMBY”        (not-in-my-back-yard) community opposition. The case, Innovative Health         Systems v. City of White Plains, has been cited extensively to combat         zoning discrimination against alcohol and drug treatment providers and         HIV service providers around the country.
  • Followed up that victory and secured the ADA’s protection of         methadone treatment providers by winning a discrimination suit on behalf         of a methadone maintenance program that was zoned out of Baltimore County         due to “not-in-my-backyard” pressures. Smith-Berch Inc.        v. Baltimore County, Md.
  • In precedent-setting cases, established for the first time that New         York’s law prohibiting discrimination based on disability protects         individuals with histories of addiction (Perez v. New York State Division         of Human Rights) and that New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination         protects individuals in recovery from alcoholism (Clowes v. Terminex).
  • Settled administrative case on behalf of a nurse who had been barred         from practicing clinical nursing in Florida because of her participation         in a methadone maintenance program, with the result that the Florida         Board of Nursing adopted a policy permitting nurses in methadone treatment         to practice clinical nursing, initially with monitoring, and, later,        without restriction or monitoring. Matter of RM.
  • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). In consultation with         Congressional sponsors and advocates for people with histories of drug         or alcohol problems and those with HIV/AIDS, LAC helped draft key provisions         of this federal anti-discrimination law that extended its protections         to individuals in recovery or being treated for addiction and to people         affected by HIV.
  • Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Through litigation and policy advocacy         in Congress, LAC also played a key role in extending the protections         of the first federal law forbidding discrimination based on disability,        the Rehabilitation Act, to individuals with past or current alcohol         or drug problems. LAC preserved the rights of people in recovery under         the Act by playing a lead role in defeating many efforts to eliminate         those rights in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

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